The geologic origin of the plain is Paleogene and Neogene (i.e., between about 65 and 2.6 million years ago)—except in the extreme south—its surface having been built up by the silting action of meandering streams. The plain is slightly undulating, sloping from 2,140 feet (650 metres) in the northeast to 700 feet (200 metres) in the southeast. The Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, and Yamuna are perennial rivers. Subtropical thorn forests grow in the southeast, and subtropical dry deciduous forests are found in the submontane region in the north.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the region’s economy, and most of the plain is farmed; cereals, cotton, sugarcane, and oilseeds are grown. Most of the region is crisscrossed by irrigation canals. Large-scale industries centred in Delhi, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Chandigarh produce a variety of goods, including textiles, bicycle parts, machine tools, agricultural implements, sporting goods, rosin, turpentine, and varnish.

An area of early Aryan settlement, the plain was, according to the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the site of the war fought between the Pandavas and Kauravas. The Punjab Plain was ruled by ancient northern Hindu dynasties until the Muslims established firm control after the defeat of Prithviraja Chauhan by Muʿizz al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Sām (Muḥammad Ghūrī) in 1192 ce. The death of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1707 and the weakening of Mughal rule at Delhi enabled the Sikh dynasty to seize power in the region. The Punjab Plain has considerable strategic importance, since its western boundary coincides with the India-Pakistan border.